August 18, 1998 - My Arms, Your Hearse

It's a double release day! On the same day as "Follow The Leader" and two years since "Morningrise", Opeth released their third album "My Arms, Your Hearse" on August 18, 1998. The original rhythm section is all gone as both bassist Johan De Farfalla and drummer Anders Nordin are no longer with the band. Martin Lopez joins Opeth as their new drummer and the bass duties (as well as some piano) are taken over by frontman Mikael Akerfeldt. This is also Opeth'a first album to have no songs longer than ten minutes, a big change from "Morningrise" which only had one song under ten minutes! Let's see what the new Opeth sounds like!

The album begins with "Prologue" which is a fitting name for a one minute opener. Akerfeldt plays some slow piano that sounds decently epic and it leads right into the next track "April Ethereal". They snap right into a great fast-paced riff with some solid drumming by newcomer Lopez and of course some pretty cool and heavy guitars by both Akerfeldt and Peter Lindgren. Akerfeldt's growls sound just as awesome as ever and he does a great job of driving things along. They switch to a new guitar riff that is offbeat and also pretty cool and everything sounds pretty good. Akerfeldt sings briefly, and sounds pretty good at that too, but then it's right back to the growls which I definitely like more. At a little over eight and a half minutes this song is still plenty progressive and they do a nice job of segueing between several cool parts; some with light guitar, most with heavier guitar, and everything sounding headbangingly great. It's a pretty grand and epic way to get the album going and the end leads right into track 3, the over nine minute "When". It opens with some light but epic guitar before absolutely and thunderously smashing into the main riff to awesome effect! It just comes out of nowhere and hits you over the head with a great and typical Opeth riff with both guitarists playing some cool stuff. Words don't do proper justice when I say that it's a very progressive song with a ton of different parts. There is so much interesting guitar that is melodic and beautiful at times and downright heavy at others and Akerfeldt and Lindgren just play off each other so well. Lopez plays some pretty cool drums as well and Akerfeldt's bass is really noticed for the first time with some cool stuff as well. Akerfeldt growls for the first few minutes (and sounds awesome as usual), but sings for what ends up being most of the song. He is such a good singer as well that it's a solid break from the headbanging though and still a pretty cool song. The next track is another short instrumental song called "Madrigal" and one guitarist plays a nice light rhythm riff and then the other one plays an interesting lead guitar part that meshes nicely together. This isn't much on it's own, but it sets the stage for track 5, "The Amen Corner", and when it comes thundering in after that quiet interlude, it hits HARD and me likey. They settle into a heavy but also fairly catchy main riff and when Akerfeldt comes in with a long, low growl things sound pretty sweet. They jam this sweet part out for a bit before some great acoustic guitar briefly steals the spotlight and nicely splits the heavy parts. Afterwards is another nice heavy riff with more epic guitars and more great growls. Eventually Akerfeldt switches to singing and we even get a guitar solo, and it's a pretty sweet one too! Then it's on to yet another pretty awesome riff and Lopez goes off for a few pretty sweet drum fills. After nearly eight minutes of awesomeness the final minute of the song is very light, but I still thought this was a pretty awesome song! Up next is "Demon Of The Fall" and they launch into a typical Opeth riff with some cool guitars and Akeefeldt and Lopez providing a nice rhythm section as well. After over a minute Akerfeldt begins the first verse and his super low growls sound so heavy and good! There's an acoustic guitar break, which sounds out of place but decent, but it just makes the next part sound even heavier as they move into a great heavy chorus. They nicely alternate between quiet and heavy parts and they set each other up so perfectly. Akerfeldt sings a solid long verse towards the end and then things lead right into track 7 "Credence" which has a slow and quiet but epic main riff with some cool lead guitar and Akerfeldt playing some solid bass as well. There's no loud parts or screaming on this song, Akerfeldt sings in a soft voice the whole time. Things still sound solid even though it's obviously not my preferred Opeth style. It's still a solid tune, and it leads right into the next track "Karma" which comes thundering in with some nice, fast and heavy guitars and Akerfeldt nicely growls overtop. He holds a long "ohhhhhh" and the mood shifts to a slower, more progressive riff that still sounds pretty sweet. Once the growling starts everything sounds pretty great and they nicely and progressively change things up while staying in the same framework. They switch to a quiet part that is still fairly fast and Akerfeldt sings nicely in this part that does a great job of bridging the gap and setting the stage perfectly for a heavy riff to follow, and follow it does as the growling returns and both guitarists play some epic stuff that takes us all the way to the end of this prrtty good eight minute song. The final track on the album is fittingly titled "Epilogue" and there's a fade-in to start as Akerfeldt is playing some nice organ and Lindgren leads the way with some epic lead guitar that sounds pretty fucking good, including some nice shredding at times! Overtop this slow and dreamy backdrop with the organ, this song-long guitar solo sounds pretty great and there's no vocals at all. It predictably fades out at the end and this was a solid way to wrap things up.

That is the end of "My Arms, Your Hearse" and I thought it was another pretty sweet album by Opeth. Martin Lopez seems a fine replacement for Anders Nordin in drums and Mikael Akerfeldt really shows off, adding some cool bass and at times some nice keyboards as well. That, along with his great songwriting, guitar playing and superb vocals there's no reason why Opeth can't be amazing for a long time! Akerfeldt and Peter Lindgren both play some great guitars and more importantly they play off each other beautifully. I think this latest album was better than their last album "Morningrise", but it doesn't quite surpass their awesome debut "Orchid" for me. Still a pretty sweet album though and I look forward to hearing more Opeth soon!